Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training Revised Edition

My friend who's a police & service dog trainer recommended this & Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson to me ...

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reyjitsu02

December 7, 2016

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My friend who's a police & service dog trainer recommended this & Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson to me after I told her I'm getting my first dog. I'm glad I read this book before I read Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson! Karen Pryor did an excellent job explaining learning theory & behaviorism to a complete novice like me. I even started applying some of her ideas in my daily life in trying not to be so hard on myself when I'm sucking at sports.

I would highly recommend this to everyone, not just dog people.

15 people found this helpful

Mostly for dogs,some translates to people

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ProfRice

March 2, 2017

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I bought as I heard it applies to humans as well, and parts do, but this book is mostly for training dogs. I wish people could be clicker trained! That said, it is full of wisdom and interesting stories, and if you want to train a dog, it is even better. I am sure I will use it when I get my next dog but I bought for working with people. One thing she writes that I immediately adopted was to praise people as soon as they do good, just as you would a dog. I used to wait and tell them, or send a nice email, or even a snail mail note. Now I know it is most impactful and will grow more good behavior if expressed immediately.

11 people found this helpful

Great how-to for anyone interested in clicker/positive reinforcement training

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recyclability

September 4, 2017

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Here's what I knew about this book: Pryor originally wrote it as a self-help book, but partly because of the title and partly because of Pryor's reputation, it exploded in animal behavior and training circles. Btw, Pryor is pretty much THE NAME in clicker training. So, of course I had to read it.

Love it! It's not as explanatory as Donaldson's "The Culture Clash," but it's a great how-to novel. I read this book and am now clicker training my dog, my horse and my betta fish. All are doing fabulously.

8 people found this helpful

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July 30, 2017

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This is the third time I've ordered this book... I have one at home, one at work,... and the rest I keep giving away. One friend read it in her graduate cognitive behavioral therapy coursework, another during her PhD for clinical psychology, another in an upper level seminar during psychiatry residency. Karen Pryor puts it rather directly -- aren't we all always trying to get other people (or ourselves) to do something, to act in a particular way? Pryor offers many compelling and accessible examples of how positive reinforcement is the most effective way to do this. Additionally, using positive reinforcement builds the relationship -- affection, love, connection -- pick your term -- rather than distance and resentment and hurt feelings that often happens when the older/former methods are used. So more than the five stars I have awarded above, I will continue to order copies to share around...

8 people found this helpful

The best training book you'll ever buy

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Molly

May 25, 2018

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I recommend this book to any and every bird owner on our forums that has a badly behaved bird or wants to know more about training their bird. It teaches not only how to train behavior but also the principals behind WHY the training method works. You learn how to develop your own training program because it's not just a step by step "How to train your pet to sit" book. It's a dive in to the thinking that helps you come up with the step by step process.

I'm studying to be an avian behaviorist so I have a couple of college textbooks on positive reinforcement that are required reading for most courses and they all recommend reading this prior to starting the textbook because it's that wonderful of a resource. The knowledge you obtain with this book is absolutely invaluable. I've been able to apply what I've learned to many different areas of my life (family, dealing with kids, difficult friends, and most importantly helping me to tame and bond with our rescued 30 year old cockatoo). I've also made suggestions (based off what I learned from this book) to bird owners who were struggling with their bird's behavior and a couple weeks later they always email me back and tell me what an improvement their bird's behavior has made. This works like a charm!

2 people found this helpful

MN white male middle-aged resident #2769

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Psychotherapist recommended

September 26, 2016

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It is a quick easy read. I am using it to train my dog, my work colleagues and my kids because I tend to be a push over and typically get little compliance from others as a result. These techniques are effective without having to feel like you are being overly aggressive, selfish or inconsiderate.

8 people found this helpful

A training book for animals and humans for your everyday life.

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Jes Jones

October 19, 2014

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A previous coworker recommended this book, among many others, when I was coming into my interest in canine behavior and training and it's definitely a worthwhile read, or reference book, for those interested in training anything, or anyone.

Karen Pryor created an easy to read book breaking down positive reinforcement training, as well as other types of training and how they can be applied not only to animals, but to the people around us, within our work and school environment and pretty much in our day to day life. She explains how positive reinforcement provides better results over alternative methods of training by making plenty of comparisons to punishment based training methods as well as negative reinforcement training methods. I loved the incorporation of her personal stories, and training sessions, in order to emphasis certain drawbacks to punishment, and specific benefits to positive reinforcement training.

There was plenty of material in this book that overlapped with the novice clicker training course that I had taken a month ago which it allowed me to breeze through some parts but enough new material to keep me engaged and actively reading till the end.

Overall, a worthwhile read for those interested in pursuing training of any kind (or are looking for healthier ways to improve the relationships in their lives).

9 people found this helpful

Excellent but tough read latter on...

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Most recent customer reviews

Karam

Easy to understand then author losses it and writes like a scientist & not easy to read latter on as if she was discussing with colleagues not readers at home.Read more

Published 19 days ago

Doug Roenneburg

Two Stars

good

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Andrea

Happy with book, just didn't recieve the advertised version

It arrived quickly, but was the 1999 version reprinted in 2017. I am happy with the book, just a little disappointed that it wasn't the advertised 2006 version.

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Stacey

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Jeanette

This is a fantastic book! If you or anyone you know is working on training kids, animals, new employees, or anything else then you need this book!

Countleo

Four Stars

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Jason

Great anecdotes, great lessons, great information.

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Lala

This is a great book for anyone wanting to know the basics of animal training. I highly recommend it.